Lake Management Planning – Technical Teams September Update

Lake Management Planning Technical Teams – status report as of 9/29/17

Water Quality Technical Team:

• Held first Team meeting in September
• Collecting existing information and data to add to the project document inventory
• Working to answer the following questions:
  • How does the system function?
  • Where is water quality at in each of the four lakes?
  • How do we monitor in the future to assess progress?
  • How do we document changes in water quality over time?
  • What are the goals for water quality improvement?
  • What would it take to delist the lakes from the EPA 303d impaired list?
  • What are our limitations or barrier to reaching those goals?
  • What are all of the management options to help reduce internal loading of nutrients and sediment?
• Next meeting will likely be held in late October or early November

Aquatic invasive species/Aquatic plant management Technical Team:

• Working to develop a plan to conduct full point-intercept surveys on all four Winnebago Lakes
  • Currently drafting sampling grids for different sampling scenarios
  • Plans to review different scenarios and choose the best option as a team based on number of sampling points, depth, light, and other factors
  • Will request estimates from consultants once sampling grid is chosen
• Collecting existing information and data to add to the project document inventory
• Will begin drafting grant application to help fund PI survey project
• Next meeting will likely be held at the beginning of October

Habitat, Fish & Wildlife Team:

• Organized informational presentations for the public about water level management
  • CLICK HERE for details on October presentations by the Army Corps of Engineers
• Will assess lakes based on available data to identify potential areas for habitat restoration and improvement
  • Collecting aerial images to help assess aquatic vegetation change in the upper pool lakes over time
  • Collecting other GIS data (bathymetry, breaklines, shoreline assessments)
• Next meeting will likely be held in middle or end of October

Recreational Lake Use, Access, & Navigation Team

• Working to develop recommendations to improve lake access for a variety of user groups
• Collecting information about navigation concerns
  • For example: locations, management, and maintenance of navigation markers
• Will begin to form Focus Group for assistance with recommendations
• Next meeting will likely be held in November